“This market for green building materials is projected to expand by seven percent annually over the next five years, and Acme Brick is committed to being our customers’ partner in green building,” said Dennis Knautz, president and chief executive officer of Acme Brick. “That’s why we have introduced new alternatives like our lean brick, and that’s why we are distributing VAST composite masonry products. VAST gives our customers, especially those pursuing LEED certification for their projects, another exceptional option for green building.”

The lean versions of Acme’s King Size and modular brick are the company’s most earth-friendly to date. Acme Brick engineers’ innovation in brick design increases the area of a brick’s core holes from 25 percent to 33 percent — without sacrificing any performance qualities. Lean brick yields savings of 11 percent in the energy used to fire brick. The 10 percent weight reduction generates additional savings in transportation energy requirements and costs.

With its patented material science technology, VAST transforms post-consumer recycled rubber and plastics into a new green building material: composite masonry. VAST’s technology achievement: engineering the world’s first composite material with up to 95 percent recycled content that provides the strength, durability and aesthetics required for landscape and hardscape applications. VAST products are cradle-to-cradle green. VAST’s manufacturing process starts with recycled car tires and plastic containers and minimizes greenhouse gases by reducing carbon emissions by 90 percent compared to concrete products. There is no scrap in the production process, and VAST pavers are 100 percent recyclable.